Tags
adventure, condensation, cutting the dock lines, falmouth cutter 22, freedom, independent travel, living aboard, minimalist, photography, sailing, sailing blog, simplicity
Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink. The condensation on the boat is so bad right now that even my soul is wet. Today is about day 10 of an inversion layer and its absolutely stagnant around here. It is by far the worst I’ve ever seen here, freezing fog??? I didn’t even know that existed. The funniest part is that its so cold that the water is shut off on the dock so we hand carry two gallons a day for cooking and drinking. Half our time is spent putting water on the boat, the other half taking it off. Its all like a cruel joke, actually more like Chinese water torture.
This time of year is always interesting and its about the time I start swearing I’m going to sell the boat, pack my backpack and walk south. I pulled the boat apart last night and had about a gallon and a half of water in every locker, like I said its bad. Water dripping from the ceiling, cover boards warping from the moisture, everything is damp. Mold everywhere, wet cushions, wet cabin soul, wet, wet, wet, even the clothes I carefully packed in sealed bags have condensation on the inside of the bags. If I was new to all this I would freak out…Ok I would freak out more than I usually do but this isn’t my first rodeo. I knew going into this full well what it would be like.
Every day I work as hard as I can and keep her as clean and dry as I can. Things are different this year, I am affected very little by all the mess and damp. I am so hyper-focused on what lies ahead that every day is just another part of the adventure. Today I made an executive decision “with Serena’s permission” that we will cut every corner possible “like we aren’t already” in order to end up with a real DSLR capable of documenting the journey. It would be a shame to go through all this and end up will pictures and video that aren’t worth a thousand words.
Last year while suffering through all this I couldn’t imagine how it was even remotely possible I was single, this year I cant imagine how I’m not. Hang in there little girl, the best is yet to come 
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
~Kahlil Gibran
Oh I hear you Alan! I hate drippy, cold, yucky living conditions. Definitely not for me! I’m so glad Terrwyn is in warmer climes now! Hope you guys get going to warmer waters soon…
Fair winds and smooth seas
Cath
P.S. Would love to see more photos of Serena… so we can get to know her (as it were)
Wish we were heading out with you guys but for some reason were are hell bent on spending more time in the PNW. The search for a baby heater continues as we hope to spend a winter exploring the north islands. Serena is very camera shy but I will continue to sneak pictures in as I can.
cat litter cat litter cat litter, told you about it before level a bag in the (well ware ever you need it) you can then ether leave it in the sun to dry out and re-use it or just pitch it over the side and get new. keep the condensation down, to an amazing level
Jim, I did get that message and its brilliant but I have 17 lockers and just don’t want to deal with 17 open boxes of litter on a boat. We are slowly getting a grip on the condensation but this last two weeks has been a perfect storm of sorts. By this time next year we ope to have it fixed as we will be doing a winter cruise north.